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WEFS-FM
'WEFS-FM '(100.3 MHz) is an FM Radio station simulcasting WEFS 1040 AM. Serving the Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan areas, both stations are the local affiliate of the Freemont Sports Radio programming. Both stations are owned by Studio Networks and their studios and offices are located in the Brine Broadcasting Center on Wampanoag Trail on the East Providence/Barrington line. The transmitter is located on Neuticonacanut Hill in Johnston, Rhode Island. History '''Smooth Jazz The station first went on air in 1972 as WOAQ. It was the region's first full-time Smooth Jazz radio station to broadcast on the FM dial. On the air, it was known as "The Oasis 100 FM". Radio veteran Eric Sterner started his career at WOAQ in 1982 at the age of 20. Sterner was the afternoon DJ before being promoted to evenings. The station changed its callsign to WOAU. The River/Rock era WOAU met its fate in September 1985. The station flipped to an Easy-listening format known as "The River 100.3". Sterner was moved back to afternoons and partnered up with William Banks, who moved from KWCM/Houston. The station became WRVK later that year Over the July 4, 1994 weekend, the station stunted, playing music from variety of music genres, promoting a feedback phone number for listeners to call, and taking potshots (or throwing shade) at YJA 103, Q97, and WFNX-FM. At 6AM on July 5th, the station was relaunched as "Rock 100-3", airing an Active Rock format. With his successful career at WOAQ, Sterner was promoted to mornings, and eventually, received the highest ratings on the station. WRVK hosted "Rockfest", which featured performances from Megadeth, Local H, Veruca Salt, Silverchair, Faith No More, Helmet, and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. In 1996, RB Media acquired WRVK from Chancellor Broadcasting, making it the sister station of WRNQ, WYJA (now WGGL), WIEB (now WBOQ), and WMCT (now WEFS (AM)) When Sterner departed on February 27, 2002, the station's ratings began to plummet. WRVK ended with a 1.4 share in August 2002, prompting RB Media with a format change announcement. A farewell show aired on September 30th, with the current and former DJs re-airing station memories (which included phone-calls from Lars Ulrich and Mancow), and a final goodbye from the station's departing staff. "Groove" and "Movin'" The station continued its rock format (jockless) until 5PM on October 2nd, when, after playing "Sad but True" by Metallica, the station flipped to a Rhythmic Oldies format as "Rhode Island's Jammin' Oldies", branded as "Groove 100.3". The first song on "Groove" was "Get Ready" by The Temptations. By the end of 2005, "Groove" adjusted its format by including Rhythmic AC music. On March 20, 2006, WRVK relaunched as "MOViN 100.3", with a full-time Rhythmic AC format. 100.3 The Buzz "MOViN" met its demise in November 2008. The station signed off with Donna Summer's "Last Dance" at noon. At that time, WRVK flipped to Alternative Rock known as "100.3 The Buzz", launching with The Smashing Pumpkins' "Bring the Light". The change was made due to Providence's "lack of real Alternative Rock stations", according to PD William Banks. During this time, WRVK became a flanker of Classic Rock sister WYJA. NOW 100.3 On October 1, 2010, at 2:53 PM, after playing "Uprising" by Muse (when the lyrics "Flick a switch and open your third eye" were sung, a sound of a switch flip was heard in the background, silencing the station until 3PM, when sounds of heartbeats and lightning strikes began playing at that hour), WRVK flipped to Rhythmic Top 40, branded as "NOW 100.3". "NOW" launched with "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO along with 10,003 songs in-a-row, commercial-free. In a statement from general manager Alexander Naill, the station's format will be similar to a CHR format, but with "no bubble-gum pop." He also added that "the (Rhythmic CHR) format will get you "hyped up" for what's coming". On October 6th, the call letters were changed to WYNW. (Despite this, WYNW continued using the WRVK legal ID liners for two more days.) Since its Rhythmic Top 40 launch, WYNW became a "flanker" to Rhythmic AC sister WRNQ. As the Summer of 2013 began, WYNW began phasing out of its Rhythmic direction and slowly adapted a Mainstream CHR direction. With the change, the station dropped its "aggressive-looking" logo for a "nice-looking" one. In January 2016, WIEB partnered up with WYNW to simulcast the format to Boston, WIEB's city of license. (Its callsign was chaned to WBNW as a result). Radio Now 100.3 On February 2, 2017, WBNW ended its simulcast with WYNW. WYNW relaunched as "Radio Now 100.3". FSR New England launches On December 30, 2019, morning duo Justin Smith and Kimberly Reyes announced that WYNW will sign off on January 3rd. With the growth of Sports Talk stations on the FM Dial, WYNW will partner up with sports talk WMCT 1040 AM. On that day, all of WYNW's on-air staff said their farewells and redirected listeners to WRNQ. At noon, "Radio Now" signed off with N*Sync's "Bye Bye Bye". WYNW and WMCT became the new affiliates of Freemont Sports Radio. Branded as "Freemont Sports Radio: New England", their callsigns were changed to WEFS-FM and WEFS (AM), respectively. Category:Providence, RI Category:Rhode Island Category:Radio stations established in 1992 Category:Sports radio stations Category:100.3 FM Category:Stations broadcasting in HD Radio Category:Freemont Sports Radio affiliates Category:Studio Networks